Voldemort's Granddaughter
by deviforever27
Summary: Dumbledore has to tell one of his students that she is Voldemort's granddaughter. Just sort of a short story where I imagine what would happen if a Hogwart's student in Harry's year found out she was related to Voldemort.
1. Chapter 1

Adair paced outside of the entrance to Dumbledore's office, twisting her fingers, tears beginning to form in her dark eyes. She felt like she was going to throw up. Why in the world would the headmaster want to see her? Sure, her grades so far hadn't been great, but Merlin's beard, this was only the first month back and they weren't bad enough to warrant a call to the headmaster's office, were they? Oh Merlin, what if she got kicked out of Hogwarts? Her parents might be Muggles, but they were so proud of their magical daughter, they would be heartbroken if she got thrown out of school.

She couldn't think of anything else she had done that would get her in this much trouble. She looked back at the note she had received this morning in the Great Hall. It certainly didn't give her any hints as to what this was all about.

_Miss Adair Robinson_

_ Would you please do me the honor of stopping by my office around 7 o'clock this evening?_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_ P.S I enjoy treacle fudge._

The postscript is what confused her the most. Was he demanding some kind of offering? It didn't seem like something Professor Dumbledore would do, but then again, it's not like Adair knew him personally or anything. He had only spoken to her once, at the very beginning of her second year. She had been practicing Transfiguration in the hallway one day when he had walked by muttering something to himself. When he saw her, he had stopped, smiled, and said,

"Ah little Adair Robinson. Hard at work I see? Good, good. Always remember, three newts in the hand is worth 12 cornish pixies in a patch of mandrakes. Good day."

She still had no idea what he was talking about.

Suddenly Adair stopped and shook her head to get herself focused back on the present. She turned around to face the gargoyle. What she wouldn't give to be back in the Gryffindor common room right now with the other sixth years, perhaps playing a game of chess with Neville or Exploding Snap with Seamus. However, this had to be done.

"Excuse me" she said, timidly, to the gargoyle, "I need to get in and see Professor Dumbledore. I have a note here and..."

"Password?" The gargoyle interrupted, sounding bored

"Well...I don't know the password. All I have this note. Oh, and by the way, right here it says, 'I enjoy treacle fudge.' Does that mean I was supposed.."

But she stopped speaking because the gargoyle had suddenly jumped aside at the mention of treacle fudge. Adair chuckled for a second, but then sobered when she remembered why she was here .

She stepped through the entrance into the headmaster's office.

Adair was overwhelmed at her first sight of Dumbledore's office. Strange magical trinkets covered ever surface of the large, majestic room, and hundreds of portraits hung on the walls, their inhabitants bustling around whispering to each other. However, when they saw Adair, they all fell silent.

"Adair, welcome!" Adair jumped as Professor Dumbledore walked out of the shadows. The headmaster's voice calm voice had sounded strangely loud in the silent room.

"Please do sit down. Would you like some tea? Pumpkin juice?"

"Uh, tea please," said Adair quietly as she sat down in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Very good." said Dumbledore, and he hummed as he prepared her drink

Adair watched him for a few moments until the the tension got to be so great that she blurted,"Professor, am I in trouble or something?"

"Oh no, goodness no, Adair, is that what you thought? My dear, I apologize profusely for any kind stress I have put you through. No actually, I have brought you here to... My goodness, I was going to give you a few minutes to get comfortable, but... well I suppose I will just tell you now, since you have gotten to point so quickly."

He placed her tea on the desk in front of her. He then smiled and brought his hands together, pointing upward, with the tips pressed together in what Adair thought of as his signature gesture. He then took a deep breath and sighed, looking thoughtfully off into the distance for a moment.

"Adair, I am going to tell you a story. I think than now you are finally old enough to handle it. Now, you may not understand at first why I am telling you this, but I must beg you not to interrupt, for I promise everything will soon become clear."

Adair nodded hesitantly.

Dumbledore looked at her intently for a few seconds then began to speak.

"About 60 years ago, an boy who would grow up to become a very dark and dangerous wizard attended this very school and was sorted into the house of Slytherin. This boy's name was Tom Riddle. He was a half-blood who had grown up in a muggle orphanage, and he certainly resented his background. He longed to be a pure- blood."

"He conducted many disturbing magical experiments even during his time at school, but he also had a fairly normal student experience. He had quite a few friends as well as a couple of girlfriends. One of these girls, a fellow Slytherin named Ramona Simmons, meant more to him than any of the others. They were an unlikely pair, to say the least, for Ramona did not agree with Tom's obsession with blood purity. In fact, she was strongly opposed to any kind of discrimination based on blood status. But she was a powerful witch with many qualities that Tom admired, such as cunning and bravery, not to mention she was a pure-blood. I think that she was one of the few people Tom ever viewed as an equal."

"She was attracted to his power and his mystery. She was not ignorant of his dark tendencies, and I'm sure that if she was honest with herself, the danger that he emanated was what had captured her interest in the first place. But she had no idea of the depths of his evil."

By this point, Adair was thoroughly confused, but she kept silent, trusting that Dumbledore would keep his promise and explain everything soon.

"Soon enough, Tom and Ramona left Hogwarts to go out into the real world. Their paths diverged for quite a few years. In the interval, Tom continued farther and farther down the path of dark magic, while Ramona went on to start a promising career in the Ministry of Magic. Then, in around 1950, they met again when Ramona wandered into Borgin and Burkes, a shop where Tom was working."

"Unpredictably, the two rekindled their relationship. I say unpredictably, Adair, because by this time Tom had distanced himself from all of his old friends and virtually cut himself off from meaningful human relationships."

"Their affair did not last long. Ramona soon realized how the darkness had grown in Tom and she became afraid. She ran away from him, vowing not to have anything to do with him ever again. However, she soon found out that she was pregnant, and it was his child."

Dumbledore paused for a minute, lost in thought. Adair silently urged him to keep going. The story transfixed her. Something about it felt so _familiar, _ like it was a fairy tale she had heard as a little girl but had since forgotten.

Dumbledore suddenly started again.

"Ramona gave birth to the baby girl in secret, and named her Lavinia. She fell in love with the little girl the minute she laid eyes on her and became determined to keep her safe from all harm. She sensed that if Tom ever found out he had a daughter, Lavinia would be in grave danger. So she changed her name, quit her job at the Ministry, and took the girl away to raise her in a quiet little cottage in northern England. "

"Many years passed and Ramona raised her beloved Lavinia in the best way she could. However, no matter how many times the little girl asked, she would not tell her who her father was. Ramona kept a close watch for any mention of Tom, but by the time Lavinia was eleven, Ramona had not heard even a whisper, and she felt safe enough to send Lavinia to Hogwarts."

Here Dumbledore smiled.

"Lavinia was a good student, though not exceptional. I remember she had a strong aptitude for charms. She was in Hufflepuff, in case you were wondering."

"Well anyway, in Lavinia's seventh year, there started to be rumors of a powerful dark wizard who was gathering followers in Britain. Ramona was worried, but she allowed her daughter to finish her education at Hogwarts and get a job at the Ministry.

"However, there came a time when Ramona could no longer ignore the signs. He had changed his physical appearance, but his distinctive style of magic could not be disguised; this terrifying new wizard was the boy that she had once admired so much, the man who was Lavinia's father, Tom Riddle."

Dumbledore paused, "As I am sure you have guessed by now, Adair, the wizard was Voldemort."

Adair looked at the headmaster with wide eyes. Why was he telling her this? This seemed like it should be highly classified ministry intel. You-Know-Who has a daughter? The implications of this realization seemed enormous. Adair almost wanted to believe that the headmaster was making all of this up, that it was all some kind of prank. But even in her excited state, Adair could not convince herself that a great man like Albus Dumbledore would go to all this trouble to play a practical joke on one sixteen year old girl. However, she could no longer contain her questions.

"So what happened to Lavinia, Professor? Did Ramona ever tell her who her father is? How do you know all of this, Professor? Did You-Know-Who ever find out about his daugther? Did he.."

Dumbledore held up his hand, smiling weakly. "Slow down Adair, I am getting to all that. I am going to speed up our story now, as it is getting late."

"Ramona did not tell Lavinia who her father was. She thought it was for the best, for Lavinia's safety and the fact that she could not bear to ruin her daughter's happiness. Lavinia was doing quite well at the Ministry, rising quickly through the ranks in the Department for Magical Transportation."

"However, Ramona began to fight against Voldemort herself, unbeknownst to her daughter. She joined an organization that I myself started, The Order of the Phoenix. She was an invaluable asset, because she had such insight on the man before he became Lord Voldemort. We became very close in this time, and Ramona confided her story in me. That, Adair, is how I found out about 'all of this.'"

He smiled, but Adair blushed, embarrassed by her outburst. She had always had a problem controlling her impulses.

"Anyway, many years passed, with Voldemort gaining more and more power. I'm sure you have heard stories of it."

Adair had. Of course her parents, being Muggles, hadn't even known about the war but she had heard plenty of stories from her friends at school who had parents that had fought in the war.

"It was a dark time, but life went on. Lavinia married a man she had met in the Ministry and they settled down together. However, disaster soon struck. Ramona was killed by one of Voldemort's death eaters while she was on a mission for the Order. Lavinia was devastated, of course, but she did not know the whole story. She thought that her mother was just another random murder by Voldemort's followers. I debated about telling her about her true history, but it was one of Ramona's last wishes that it be kept a secret, so I honored her request, against my better judgement."

"Lavinia soon found out she was pregnant. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Her life would have continued happily enough, but there was spy for Voldemort in the midst of the Order. I do not know how he found out what Ramona confided in me, but the sad truth is that he relayed this information to his master, expecting to be rewarded handsomely, I am sure. However, I am told that Voldemort's fury at the realization that he had had a daughter for almost thirty years and not been any the wiser was terrible to behold. You must understand that Voldemort is determined to know everything, and I believe he was shocked and a little scared to find out that Ramona had kept such a secret from him for years."

"Naturally, as soon as I found out that Voldemort knew about Lavinia I moved to protect her and her baby. I also told her what had been kept from her her whole life, the identity of her father. She took it rather well, considering. She agreed with me that for the safety of the child, she must give her daughter to someone else raise as their own. Believe me, this was not easy for her, but she did it because her love for her daughter was so strong."

Adair felt tears running down her cheeks that she could not explain. She was holding her breath, sitting on the edge of her seat and clenching her hands around the armrests. She felt that if Dumbledore were to stop telling the story now, she would scream.

As Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak again, his face became very grave and his eyes drilled into Adair's with a look of intense sadness.

"I was not able to save Lavinia and her husband. I placed her under the strongest protection charms I could think of, but at the time,Voldemort's spy was still operating in the Order, and Voldemort was able to discover their location."

At this Dumbledore went silent and stared down at his hands. It seemed to Adair that he was waiting for her to ask it. Adair took a deep breath and said, quietly,

"Professor, what happened to Lavinia's daughter?"

Dumbledore looked up, his icy blue eyes staring directly into hers. And suddenly, Adair knew exactly what he was about to say.

"Well, my dear, she grew up, and here she sits before me."


	2. Chapter 2

Adair wasn't able to speak for several minutes. Her mind went blank, unable to process what she had heard. Finally, she came to the sluggish realization that Dumbledore probably expected her to react in some way.

"Me?" she said, lamely.

Dumbledore only nodded his head, still looking her in the eye.

Finally, it seemed that her thoughts and emotions caught up to her, all in the same instant, because suddenly she was overwhelmed with feeling.

First disbelief, of course. There was no way that this could be true. She knew who her parents were. They were Joann and Eric Robinson, the most average people on the face of the earth.

Then came confusion. If, by some chance, what Dumbledore was saying is true, who were these people she had lived with for 16 years?

Finally, came the strongest emotion. Anger. Assuming this was true, why hadn't he told her earlier? Didn't he think something as momentous as being _Voldemort's grandaughter _was important for her to know? She looked at him, breathing hard, and suddenly she could not stand it. She hated how calm he was. She let her anger overtake her completely, drowning out everything else. She started out quietly, hissing through her teeth.

"I just have one question, _Professor_. Why now? Why did you finally decide to tell me that I'm the spawn of Satan? Did it suddenly occur to you over your morning pumpkin juice that it's something I should know?"

When he gave no reaction, she could not control herself anymore.

"YOU THINK IT'S OK TO CALL ME IN HERE AND DROP A BOMB LIKE THAT AND THEN JUST SIT THERE, NODDING LIKE AN IDIOT? YOU HAVE JUST SINGLE HANDEDLY TURNED EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN AND YOU CAN'T SEEM TO SAY ONE SINGLE THING. YOU HAD PLENTY TO SAY EARLIER, PROFESSOR, DIDN'T YOU, WHEN YOU.. WHEN YOU... when you..."

She couldn't yell anymore. Just as quickly as it had started, her anger faded, and she was left empty again. She wilted and put her head in her hands, suddenly exhausted.

She sat there looking at the carpet, feeling guilty. Had she really just spoken like that to the headmaster? Merlin, he must hate her now. But then, she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. Looking up into Dumbledore's eyes, she saw nothing but love and compassion.

She cracked. She stood up, threw her arms around Dumbledore, and, right there in the Headmaster's office, began to sob. Dumbledore continued to pat her on the back, waiting patiently for her sobs to slow down. When she was reduced to the occasional hiccup, the headmaster finally spoke.

"I know this is hard for you to accept, Adair. But I want you to know right now, this doesn't change who you are. You are still Adair Robinson, a good-hearted, brave, Gryffindor, and the dutiful daughter of Joann and Eric Robinson, who still love you very, very much. Where we are from has no bearing on what we will become, Adair. It is all in the choices that we make. Now, if you are ready, I would invite you to sit down and we will discuss the technicalities of your situation."

Adair nodded and sat down carefully in the chair again. Dumbledore's mention of her parents had made her feel a strong desire to see their faces, hear their voices. They didn't know anything about the magical world, so surely they couldn't know about Voldemort, but why didn't they tell her she was adopted? Didn't they realize that it wouldn't have mattered to her? But now, when she had to find out like this, from the headmaster of her school...she felt so betrayed.

Then Dumbledore, as if he had read her mind, suddenly spoke, "Adair, there are some people here that I know you must want to speak with."

Adair looked up as Dumbledore beckoned her parents through a side door of the office. She looked at them with a blank expression. Her mother opened her arms, but Adair stayed where she was, staring at them both. Dumbledore, sensing the tension, conjured two chairs, and invited Adair's parents to sit.

The clock ticked loudly as they all sat there, silently, with Adair avoiding her parent's gaze.

Finally, Dumbledore, looking at Adair' parents, said, "Would you like to tell her, or would you like me to do it?"

Adair looked at the three of them, confused. "Tell me what? What more could you possibly have to tell me?" It came out sounding harsher than she intended.

Adair's mother squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. "I'll do it," she said. Adair's father put a hand on her shoulder

Joann then looked straight at Adair, taking her hand.

"Adair, your father and I... we're not really Muggles."

Adair looked at her, dumbfounded.

"I'm actually a muggleborn, but your father Eric is a half-blood. We are Aurors for the Ministry of Magic. When your parents died, Dumbledore thought that, for your safety, it would be better to raise you away from the magical world, with people who would be able to protect you if something happened."

Adair looked at her, a feeling the sense of betrayal growing stronger inside of her. She yanked her hand away form her mother. "So you were just my bodyguards, is what you are saying. Just people assigned and paid to keep me alive. You don't really care-"

"No honey that's not it at all-"

"What is it then?" She was yelling now. "It's your job isn't it? As aurors? Protecting people from dark wizards? Tell me, are you really even married? Or is that just a cover too?"

Joann's eyes began to fill up with tears, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Dumbledore cut back in.

"Adair, calm down. No one 'assigned' them to do anything. Joann and Eric were good friends of your parents as well as part of the Order. When your parents died, they were heartbroken, of course. They approached _me_, Adair, not the other way around, about being the ones to raise you. I thought it was a perfect solution. Joann and Eric already cared about you, and I could be confident that you would be safe. On top of that, as I understand it, they were trying to have a child of their own at the time, but were having trouble conceiving, so they were overjoyed to have you. It was heartwarming, watching such beauty come out of such an ugly situation. Dark times really do bring out the best in people."

Adair listened, not completely convinced. She was finding it hard to trust them, knowing what they had kept from them all these years.

"Why didn't you trust me?" she whispered. "I suppose I understand waiting to me to tell me that I am, you know..." She couldn't bring her self to say _Voldemort's grandchild_. "But you could have _at least _told me about witches and wizards. Prepared me, you know. I wouldn't have told anyone if you had told me not to. We could have still lived like Muggles."

"Oh sweetheart, we wanted to. You don't know how much we wanted to. But you were so young, you wouldn't have understood. It was so much easier to wait until you were older. We wanted you to have a normal, happy childhood, because we love you very, very much."

Adair looked up into her parents eyes, and saw that they were telling the truth. All the anger flowed out of her and she leaned in to hug them both, holding them very tightly. She had not completely forgiven them, but at least now she could understand where they were coming from.

When she finally looked up, Dumbledore was smiling at them all. "Thank you very much for coming in Mr. and Mrs. Wesley-

"Wait, Wesley? Robinson isn't your real last name?" asked Adair.

Adair's father nodded, looking slightly guilty. "We thought it was for the better."

Adair simply nodded. She felt like nothing could phase her anymore. She nodded at Dumbledore to continue.

"Yes, well. Thank you very much for coming, but if you please, I would like a few more minutes alone with Adair." said Dumbldore

Adair's parents got up. "Goodbye sweetheart, we love you," said Adair's mother.

"We will talk more over break," said Adair's father, kissing her on the head.

And they walked over to the headmaster's fireplace, tossed in some floo powder, and disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

"I know this is a lot to process, Adair. It has been a very stressful night. If you wish it, please feel free to return to your common room. Or, you may stay here for a while longer and i will attempt to answer any additional questions you may have."

Adair suddenly felt very tired.

"I think I'll just go back to my room for now," she said, quietly.

Dumbledore nodded. " I think that is very wise. Please feel free to come by my office for any reason. My door is always open."

Adair forced a small smile and bid the headmaster goodnight. She wandered back through the halls automatically, her mind a perfect blank.

She somehow managed to get back to the portrait hole without coming across anyone. She was grateful for that, but she still had to face the common room.

Taking a deep breath, she gave the password, (Hippogriff Hooves) to the Fat Lady and pushed open the door. A rush of cheerful chatter greeted her. Usually, this would be a comforting sound, but tonight it just made Adair shudder. How could she face these people now?

She tried to walk quickly to the dorm staircases, but the room was crowded with people relaxing on a Friday night and her way was hampered. Several people called to her from across the room, inviting her to join them, including her best friend Seamus. She tried to act casual, indicating with a gesture that she was very tired, but her movements seemed stiff and jerky, and she knew she did not look very convincing.

She moved even faster toward the dorms, picking her way through the groups of rowdy students. If only she could be as carefree and easy as them. Their entire realities weren't just turned upside down by the people they trusted most. At this moment, she would give anything to forget this night.

She was almost at the staircase when she saw him, sitting in his usual armchair with his two best friends. Harry Potter. He seemed relaxed, or at least as relaxed as he could be. Adair had always thought that their was a certain tension in Harry's body that never left, as if he was always poised, waiting for something terrible to happen.

She had known Harry ever since their first year, of course, but only from a distance. He and Ron and Hermione kept to themselves a lot, always intensely whispering to each other. They had gotten into so many adventures over the years that everyone was slightly in awe of them, hesitant to break into their little group.

Adair had tried to ignore the rumors that were always flying about Harry. She tried to treat him as just a normal kid, because she knew that is what she would want if she was in his situation. But at the same time, she knew their was something special about him. She had watched his fire and passion as their teacher in Dumbledore's army last year, read about his heroic fight with You-Know-Who in the ministry. She believed, in her heart, that Harry was the one destined to finally destroy the Dark Lord.

She felt unclean, unworthy to be in the same room as him. Harry was so good. What would he think if he ever found out who she really was? He would hate her, of course. Think of everything, Voldemort, (_My grandfather,_ she thought with a shudder_), _had done to him. There was no way he would ever look at her the same again.

Harry looked up, caught her staring at him, and gave a small nod in her direction. For some reason, this made it even worse for Adair, and the tears came unbidden into her eyes. She put her head down and practically sprinted to the dorms. When she finally reached her room, which was blissfully empty, she threw herself down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"Oy, mate, what did you do to her?"

Ron was looking at him, trying to keep a straight face but his eyes were laughing. He had obviously just seen that little encounter.

Harry was utterly confused. "I have no idea" he said, honestly.

He had been sitting in his armchair, playing chess with Ron, when he looked up to see Adair Robinson staring at him from across the room. He had nodded to her, and then she had gotten this strange look and her face. Her eyes had gone all wet and she started running back to her dorm, looking like she was about to cry.

He looked to Hermione for help "Did I do something wrong?" he asked, completely helpless on the subject of girls and their emotions.

Hermione just shook her head. "Not that I know of. I just hope everything is okay. Maybe I should go up their and talk to her," she said, looking up the stairs with a worried expression on her face.

"Nah, Hermione, don't bother." He turned to Harry. "It's probably just that time of the month. You know that girls get all weird and emotional and stuff," he said, sagely.

"Ronald!" said Hermione, smacking him on the arm, but she was trying to hold back a laugh.

Harry laughed too and tried to brush it off, but he could not get the look Adair had given him out of his head.

Adair awoke the next morning feeling slightly better. Everything was easier to handle after a good night's sleep. She went down to breakfast, determined to act completely normal. She sat in her normal spot, next to Seamus and Pavarti. She was a little quieter than usual, but she was sure that her friends hadn't noticed anything.

Luckily it was a Saturday so she didn't have to worry about classes or anything. Dean was trying to rustle up enough people to play a quick game of muggle football on the grounds, something she usually enjoyed because of her own muggle background. "_Which was really a lie_" she now thought to herself, sadly.

She excused herself from the game, saying that she had a lot of work to do in the library. She actually tried to do work for a while, but the castle felt too confined. She needed some fresh air. She went where she usually went when she needed to get away-the top of the astronomy tower. There was never anyone up there during the day.

For a while she just lay there, thinking about everything she had learned last night. It was slowly starting to sink in. She tried to remind herself of what Dumbledore had said, that she was still the same person that she had always been, but she wasn't sure if she believed it.

She began to question every slightly mean or hurtful thing she had done in her life. Was it evidence of the evil that was inside her? Pushing Susan Thomas down on the playground, causing her to skin her knee, when Susan had taken her doll without asking, wasn't that something the heir of Voldemort would do? Taking revenge on that Hufflepuff Jeffrey Peets for embarrassing her in front of her crush by turning his clothes invisible when he was giving a report in Charms class, was that a sign of her own darkness?

Who was she, really?

Adair was startled from her daze by the sound of the trap-door opening. It was two giggling Ravenclaw seventh- years, not doubt coming up so they could get a good snog in private. They stopped suddenly, when they saw Adair lying there, by herself, and began looking around, awkwardly.

Adair got up quickly, blushing just as hard as they were, and left them the astronomy tower in a rush.


	4. Chapter 4

Adair went though the next couple of weeks in the same way, half in a daze, trying to act as normal as possible. She avoided Harry Potter as much as she could, but she sometimes looked up to find him staring at her, questioningly.

She couldn't blame him. She knew she would have questions too if someone suddenly started acting the way she did toward him. But she was determined to never let him know her secret.

She began reading any and everything she could get her hands on about Voldemort and his rise to power. She even got Madame Pince, the librarian, to let her read books from the Restricted Section, claiming that she was doing a special extra credit paper on You- Know- Who for her History of Magic Class.

She found that there was almost no available information about the young Voldemort. In fact, there was no information at all about his beginnings as Tom Riddle, only rumors and speculations, most of them being ludicrous.

She found a few mentions of Tom Riddle in the school records. On paper, he seemed like an ideal student. He got top marks, he was Prefect and Head Boy, he even got and award for "Special Services to the School," but she could not find out for what. If she hadn't know the truth, she would have guessed that this boy went on to be the Minister of Magic.

She even looked up Ramona and Lavinia, whose last name, she discovered, was Jones, which must have been what Ramona changed is to after she fled. She couldn't find out much more than what the Headmaster had told her. But she stared for hours at those pages, the pages written with the name of her mother and her grandmother, and willed them to reveal something to her, something about their personality or their appearance.

One day, while everyone else was at Hogsmeade, she struck gold. While looking through some old daily prophets from the time period, she saw a small wedding announcement.

_"Mr. and Mrs. Edward Pierce are proud to announce the marriage of their son, Winston Pierce, to one Miss Lavinia Jones. The couple met through their work at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical Transportation. They plan to settle down in a suburb outside of North London. The wedding took place this July in a small chapel in the bride's hometown."_

The article was accompanied by a small, grainy picture of the couple, waving outside of a small house. Adair looked furtively around for any sign of Madam Pince, the librarian, and seeing none, waved her wand and neatly cut out the picture and accompanying article. She quickly stuffed the Prophets back into their place and rushed back to the privacy of her dorm room.

Sitting in her bed, Adair soaked in the picture, memorizing their faces, looking for any similarities between them and herself. Here were her parents, but at the same time, not her Mum and Dad. After everything, she had finally accepted that Joann and Eric _Wesley,_ if that was their real name, had made the best out of the situation and had done everything out of the goodness of their hearts. They had been writing letters back and forth ever since that night, and when Adair read their heartfelt and tender messages, she knew that she must forgive them completely, because they meant every word.

But at the same time, it was comforting to look at this picture of the happy couple and have proof that they were real. Lavinia had gone through the same thing that she was going through now, finding out the terrible truth, and she had made it through, accepted it. She was good, and that means that Adair could be also.

Adair was still looking at the photo when Hermione came into the room. When she saw Adair sitting there, she jumped a little, startled.

"Oh... hi...um Adair. D-didn't see you there. How are you?"

Adair looked at her confused. Hermione was acting very strange. She was glancing about the room awkwardly, avoiding looking at her. She couldn't tell, but was Hermione... frightened?"

"I'm fine," said Adair, tucking the photo into one of her schoolbooks and laying it to the side. "How are you?"

"Oh" Hermione cleared her throat. "I'm fine too," she said, seeming to compose herself and get back to normal. "Have you heard about Katie though?"

"No. What's happened?" said Adair, worriedly, seeing the grave expression on Hermione's face. She had always liked Katie Bell.

"Something happened to her on her way back from Hogsmeade. Ron and Harry and I were there to see it. It seems she touched some sort of cursed necklace. It was horrible. She's on her way to St. Mungo's now."

"Oh my goodness that's awful! Is she going to be alright?" Adair exclaimed, sitting up on the edge of her bed.

"Professor McGonagall says so. I thought I better just tell you now. The whole schools going to know in a couple of hours anyway."

"Well thank you so much. I wonder who could have done such a thing. I ought to write her a get-well soon card."

"Why do you think someone did this to her?" said Hermione

Adair looked up, confused at the harsher than necessary tone in Hemione's voice. "Well, I mean, I just assumed. I don't think Katie is the type of person to get mixed up in some sort of Dark Magic." she said, looking Hermione right in the eye.

"Of course, of course," Hermione said, in a lighter tone. "Well, I just came up here to get my potions book. I'll see you around, Adair."

Adair watched her leave. "_What was that all about?"_

Hermione came down the stairs to where Ron and Harry were sitting.

"I just saw Adair, sitting up there by herself. Harry, I really don't think she is up to anything unusual. For some reason or another, she is going through a really tough time right now and it is totally unfair that you suspect her of _something_, and may I point out you don't even know what _kind_ of something, just because of one strange look she gave you."

Harry immediately went on the defensive. _"_Well Hermione, how do you explain all that "research" she has been doing? She's been reading stuff on Voldemort and books out of the restricted section for the past few weeks! That's way more than necessary for any school project. It just seems suspicious."

_ "_Okay, its a little unusual, but can you blame her for being curious? The public has only recently accepted that Voldemort is back from the dead after all. She's a muggleborn, so maybe she just wants to learn all she can about him. You must remember, we didn't grow up hearing all the stories that wizard children did."

"Of course I do Hermione. I didn't either, remember? But you don't see any of the other muggleborn out looking up stuff in the Restricted Section about the Dark Lord. And, yes, that weird look could just have been a weird coincedence, but what if its not? What if she knows something about me?"

Hermione sighed. _"_Harry you are becoming paranoid. Listen to yourself. Stop obsessing over this. Stop obsessing over Draco. No one at Hogwarts is up to anything."

"Fine, whatever. Think what you want. All I'm saying is that something is definitely going on with Adair. I've even heard Seamus talking about how she's acting different, and you know he's her best friend."

"Hey, guys, Look what I can do!"

They both looked over at Ron, who was balancing his wand, upright, on his chin. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and began to laugh, the tension gone. But their laughter wasn't quite as loud as Lavender Brown's coming from the other side of the room.

Adair found that Hermione was right; the whole school was talking about Katie Bell the next day, and for several days after that.

She kept thinking about her and Hermiones' conversation, and how weird she had acted. It was almost as if she had known... but that was impossible, wasn't it?

She began to notice more and more Harry Potter's seeming interest in her. She felt like he was always watching her, waiting for her to... what?

She redoubled her efforts to act normal. She knew that Seamus had been getting worried about her. They used to hang out almost every day, but while she was so immersed in looking up things about Voldemort and her family she had sometimes gone for days without speaking to him.

So now she deliberately stayed with him as much as possible. It was a little awkward at first, but one of the thing's she liked most about Seamus is that he couldn't hold a grudge for very long. They were soon back to their easygoing ways, laughing and joking, teasing Pavarti for her disastrous attempts to dye her hair blonde using Madame Piddygaggles Magical Hair Dye. Life felt normal again.


	5. Chapter 5

When the time came for winter break, Adair was excited to see her parents again. It would be good to talk to them in person about everything, now that she had calmed down and accepted what she had learned. She took longer getting packed than any of the other Gryffindors, so when she walked down the dorm stairs, the common room was nearly empty. Everyone else was making their way down to the train.

She was in such a hurry and so excited to get home that she didn't notice Harry until she bumped into him as he was coming in through the portrait hole

Her trunk knocked open and some of her stuff scattered on the floor. She swore, rushing to pick some of it up. Harry hurridly bent down to help her.

"Running late as well?" he asked, casually.

Adair nodded, feeling awkward. As she continued picking up her stuff, she saw it at the same time as he did. The picture of Lavinia and Winston had fallen out of her book on the floor. Harry picked it up and started to say "Is this-"

Adair cut him off. "Yes, it's mine." And she grabbed it out of his hand a little more forcefully than was really necessary. She tucked it carefully back into her book. She refused to look at Harry, who was looking at her, contemplating.

All of her stuff was back into her trunk now. "Thank you," she said shortly. She turned and began to roll her trunk back to the portrait hole.

"Wait" she heard him say. She turned around. "Wait for me, I'll- I'll walk with you to the train. I just need to grab something I forgot really fast," he said it quickly, as if he didn't really know why he was saying it.

Adair looked at him. It was ridiculous really, the way she was treating him. Everything else in her life had pretty much gone back to normal, why not her casual friendship with Harry as well? She shouldn't have to feel guilty for something she hadn't done.

So she nodded and smiled at him. "I'll wait right here."

Harry looked taken aback, probably surprised by her sudden change in attitude. He gave the "one second" symbol, and dashed off to his room. He came back carrying a tattered old potions book.

So they walked to the train together, casually chatting about classes and schoolmates, neither mentioning the awkwardness that had been between them for the past few months. When they reached the train, Harry helped her with her trunk and they each departed for their separate compartments. Adair was in a good mood for the rest of the train ride.

Christmas at Adair's house was quiet. She was right, it did feel good to talk to her parents again, getting to know them now as Joann and Eric Wesley, a muggle born witch and a half blood wizard, aurors for the Ministry.

But something was off with them but she didn't sense that it had anything to do with her. They were worried about something. They were continually glancing out windows and talking in hushed voices when they thought she couldn't hear. They kept their wands with them at all times, but she didn't know is that was normal for them or not. Once, she asked them if anything was wrong, but they just brushed it off, assuring her that everything was fine. She didn't ask again.

When the time came to go back to Hogwarts, they gave Adair a tearful goodbye, still trying to pretend that everything was normal. Well, as normal as it could be. But by this time, Adair was sure that something was up.

Back on the train, Adair resumed her "I'm perfectly fine" routine as best she could around her friends, but she was still worried about her parents.

The first night back, there was a party in the common room. Adair snuck out with Seamus to nick some food from the kitchens, a secret they inherited from Fred and George Weasley. Sneaking along the passageways, giggling at Seamus, who was pretending that they were on a very serious mission and kept ducking around corners and somersaulting across passageways, she felt just like her old self again. She was able to put the tension that had existed at her house out her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

"I can't believe they gave us this much homework on our first day back at classes!" complained Seamus. His voice was muffled because he had keeled over on top of his open Transfiguration book and his face was buried in the pages.

Adair patted him on the back, pretending to be sympathetic. "Want me to play the world's tiniest violin for you?"

"Shut up," Seamus groaned, sitting up and playfully shoving he in her arm.

"Come on Seamus, it's easy. I finished it during our free period after lunch."

"Want me to play the world's tiniest trumpet for you, oh masterful one?" asked Seamus, sarcastically.

Adair just laughed. "It would be appreciated. Now, since I was ever such a good student today, I'm going to go bed early. That party really tired me out yesterday."

"Loser," said Seamus. But as she was walking away he said "Night, Adair. See you tomorrow."

Adair smiled to herself. She has always liked Seamus, but lately she had felt a little something more between them. She imagined what is would be like if they started dating. It was a pleasant little day dream. And this is what she was happily thinking about as she drifted off to sleep.

_ "No, No, NO. Eric they're here!" a woman's voice screamed_

_ "Impossible! How did they find us?" A man responded_

_ "Does it matter? Let's-" The woman's voice was cut off by a loud explosion_

_Adair saw confused images of smoke and debris, heard a symphony of screams and yells. Colored jets of light arched across her vision. She heard booms and crashed. She heard her name called, over and over again. _

_ "Adair, Adair! Wake up! Wake up, Adair, Wake up!"_

Adair suddenly found herself back in her dorm room, covered in sweat. Hermione was holding her shoulders. It looked like she had been trying to shake her awake. Pavarti and Lavender stared at her with frightened expressions from the bottom of her bed. They were all still fully clothed, so it wasn't very late.

"I think you were having a bad dream," said Hermione, looking at her with an extremely concerned expression.

"It wasn't a dream." said Adair, quietly at first. Then she was yelling. "I'T WASN'T A DREAM, I'T WASN'T A DREAM."

She rushed to get out of bed, throwing off Hermione's hands, which were trying to push her back down.

"I have to go see the Headmaster." Adair said, tugging on some jeans at the foot of her bed and throwing on a sweatshirt. "It's important."

"I really think-" Hermione started to say, but Adair did not listen to the rest of her sentence and rushed out the door.

She ran through the common room to the portrait hole. As she passed Seamus, he stood and said "Adair, what-" but she ignored him too.

She sprinted down the hallway. Her only thought was to get to the Headmaster's room as quickly as possible. When she got to the statue outside of his office, she shouted, "Treacle Fudge!" at it, but it did not move.

"That password is incorrect." said the gargoyle.

"You don't understand! I need to see the headmaster right away. It's an emergency!" begged Adair.

"I'm sorry, girl, but you cannot enter without the password. Besides the headmaster is occupied with-" The gargoyle stopped suddenly as though he was listening to something.

"Nevermind. Go on in," the gargoyle said, causally, and stepped aside.

Shocked, Adair stared at him for a beat then remembered her purpose. She race up the stairs and through open the door.

"Professor! My parents! I think they're.."

She stopped suddenly when she saw Harry, sitting in the chair opposite the Headmaster, staring at her. Dumbledore stood and walked across to her.

"Adair I heard you yelling outside my office. What has happened?"

"Well...um..."she said, glancing at Harry.

"Nevermind Harry. Just tell me what has happened."

Adair looked him right in eye. "My parents are in danger sir."

Dumbledore's face was grave. "And how do you know this?

"I had- I had a dream, sir." Adair said, her face reddening. "Look, I know this sounds ridiculous but I KNOW that is was real. They were in their house and my mum started yelling, saying that they were there and I heard fighting and screaming and I-"

Adair cut off because the Headmaster had walked away from her and was fiddling with some of the silver instruments on the tables while talking to the portraits.

"Phineas, check headquarters. Dilys, St. Mungo's. Arabella- you know what to do."

Dumbledore turned back to her. "Adair, stay right here. Harry, you as well. I need to go check on a few things and I will be back here as soon as I can. Stay calm. I'm sure everything is all right."

And then he walked up to the phoenix in the corner of the room, touched it's back, and they were gone.

Adair stood, stunned, in the middle of the room for several seconds. Finally she turned to look at Harry. He didn't say a word, but he got up and offered her the chair he had been sitting in. She nodded her thanks numbly, and sat down, staring at her hands, holding back tears. All she could think about was her parents. How she wasn't screaming right now, she didn't know.

Harry sat down in a chair near hers. They sat in silence for a time, who knew how long it really was. Eventually. he reached out and took her hand. She looked up at him. She decided she was grateful for the hand to hold. They continued to sit in silence as the clock ticked away the seconds.

Finally, they heard a pop and the Headmaster was back in the room. They both stood up, still, holding hands. Adair looked at the headmaster, waiting...

"They are alive, Adair."

Adair collapsed back into the chair, as if she was a bag of sand and all her stitches had been ripped out. Alive. The most beautiful word in existence. Alive.

Had she had been made it all up, barged in on the Headmaster's meeting with Harry for nothing? She supposed so, but the word alive made it sound like-

"However, you were right, Adair. They were in danger. Just as you saw in your dream, your parents were attacked in their home by Death Eaters. Fortunately, they were able to escape without serious injury. They are both being cared for now in an Order safehouse."

Adair reeled. They were attacked. She had known that there was something wrong, but she had ignored it, going on with her silly little life and now her parents had almost been killed.

"I suppose you have many questions, Adair."

Adair stared blankly at him. Of course she did.

"And I'm sure that they first of these questions is when you will be able to see them. Adair, I am sorry to say that for the time being I think it would be better if you stayed here."

Adair started in her chair, looking straight at the Headmaster. When she spoke, her voice was dangerously quiet but it rose in volume as she said "If you think I'm just going to sit here in this pretty little castle and pretend like my parents weren't just almost KILLED-" she stopped, lost for words, too furious to continue. She ignored Harry, sitting there, staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. What did she care what he thought of her.

"What I mean, Adair, is that you and your parents are in grave danger. You are safe here at Hogwarts, but if you were to leave the castle now, you could put both yourself and your parents in even more danger. For now, you must accept my account that they are perfectly well and that they will be very well protected at the safehouse."

Adair continued to stare angrily at him, but she saw that there was no use in trying to convince him. She folded her hands across her chest and sat silently, glaring at the floor.

"We have some more for us to talk about. Harry, I think it would be best if you could leave now. Please remember what I have asked you to do."

Harry nodded and began to walk toward the door.

"Oh and Harry," the headmaster said, "not a word of this to anyone, you understand?"

Harry nodded again, opened the door, and left.

"Now, Adair, shall we talk about what why you have seen this?" Dumbledore asked, calmly.

Adair looked at him and forced herself to drop her anger towards him, because she really did want to know what was going on, and she thought that acting like a pouting four- year old who didn't get their candy was not the way to go about it.

"Yes, Headmaster, please can we?"

"First, let me ask how you have been getting on these past couple of months. Are you handling everything?"

"I was doing much better, sir, until... well... until tonight." Adair started to feel tears come to her eyes and hastily wiped them away. For some reason, she didn't want the headmaster to see her cry, not again.

"Very good, very good." said Dumbledore, softly. "I am glad to hear that."

"Now, as to why you have seen the events of tonight, I am very interested in. Tell me, what point of view did you see this from?"

"Well..umm" stumbled Adair, surprised by the question. "I guess it was from... it was from my mother's perspective." As she said it, she knew it was true, even though she hadn't realized it before.

"Interesting, interesting. It is as I suspected. Adair, I believe you have inherited your Grandfather's ability of legilimancy."

"Legili- what?" asked Adair, lost.

"Legilimancy. It is the power to enter the mind of another witch or wizard and sift through their thoughts and emotions. Voldemort is especially gifted at this. It is how he knows if anyone is lying to him."

Adair was disgusted. "But I would never do that! I would never invade someone's privacy in that way. Please, professor, you have to believe me!"

Dumbledore smiled at her. "I know you wouldn't Adair, not on purpose. That is what makes you so much greater than your grandfather. But you must understand, legilimancy is not in its nature evil. It can be used for good as well, as you have demonstrated tonight. Do not be ashamed of you gift. As long as you use it properly, it can be very helpful to you."

Adair nodded, but she was not convinced. Anyway she looked at it, it sounded creepy.

"Adair, I would like to talk to you some more, but now is not the time. It is getting late, and you do have classes tomorrow. Do you think that you could go back to your dorm and get at least some sleep tonight?"

Adair shrugged, but she got up to go. She had learned quite enough for one night.

"If anything like this happens again Adair, please come see me right away. You did the right thing tonight."

Adair nodded. "Goodnight, professor," she said "and thank you."

"No, Adair, thank you," said Dumbledore.

She walked to the door and grabbed the handle.

"Adair, one more thing," said the Headmaster, "Harry will be looking for some sort of explanation for tonight's events. I will leave it up to you as to how much you want to tell him. However, I urge you to consider confiding in him. I think he will be more understanding than you would think."

Adair just looked at him. Without a word, she opened the door and left the office.


	7. Chapter 7

When Harry got back to the common room, Hermione was waiting to ambush him, with Ron right behind her.

"Harry! Did you see Adair while you were in Dumbledore's office? She woke up screaming in her bed then rushed out of her, yelling that she needed to see the headmaster."

"What? uh, yes. I mean, no. I mean... okay yes I did but Hermione I really can't talk about it. I need to talk to her first. It's kind of... personal... for her."

Ron and Hermione just looked at him.

"But you tell us everything, mate," Ron pointed out.

"I know, I know, but this isn't about me. This is someone else's business. Don't worry about her though. Everything turned out fine.

They continued to stare at him, expectant.

"Dumbledore did show me a new memory tonight though," said Harry, changing the subject. "And he gave me a job to do. Listen..."

And he proceeded to tell him about Slughorn's tampered memory, but all the while he kept a lookout for Adair, waiting for her to get back to the common room.

Adair had had to answer many questions the previous night. Many, many questions. Apparently half of Griffyndor tower had heard her little outburst last night, and the other half had heard all about it later, courtesy of Parvarti and Lavender.

She decided to play the scared muggleborn part. She told everyone that she had been really scared lately about Voldemort rising back to power and that had had a terrible dream that he was trying to get into the castle. It was so vivid, she said, that she had believed it was real when she woke up and thought she needed to go warn the Headmaster. This seemed to satisfy most people.

Seamus had hugged her and told her everything was all right, which was nice. Pavarti and Lavender were all sugar and sweetness, fawning over her for the rest of the night, but Adair was still a little angry at them for gossiping behind her back.

This morning it seemed the whole school knew about it, and although most people were sympathetic, she could hear some of the Slytherins, led by Draco Malfoy, sniggering behind her back. She didn't care, though, as long as they bought the story and didn't know the truth.

There was one person, of course, who didn't buy the story, and she knew she would have to face him sooner or later, so she choose sooner. As they were filing out of the Great Hall after lunch, she tapped Harry on the arm and gave him a significant look. She began walking off in the direction of one of the unused classrooms in the charms corridor. She heard him catch up beside her but she didn't say a word until they were inside the room.

"Look, Harry..." she began, but he held his hand up to stop her,

"Muffliato" he said, pointing his wand at the door. "Now we can talk and no one will hear us."

Adair nodded, making a mental note of the spell. "Look, I want to explain what happened last night. I know you're confused. In fact," she said, looking at him and remembering Dumbledore's advice to tell him everything. "I'm sure you're confused about the past couple of months."

Harry sort of smirked, then shuffled his feet around awkwardly. "Yeah," he said, "I guess I am."

"Harry, can I trust you? I'm sorry, that's a dumb question, I mean, of course I can trust you. You're the boy who lived, the savior of the wizarding world, and Dumbledore said I could so... I just have to ask you know, because, well I mean that's what people do and well..." Adair faded. She was nervous and rambling. This was going terribly.

"You can trust me," Harry said.

Adair stared into his eyes. _Please don't hate me_, she thought

"Harry, I'm... I'm...I'm Voldemort's granddaughter."

Harry knew he was going to get it from Hermione when he saw her next. He had skipped all of his classes that afternoon.

Harry and Adair had just stayed in that unused classroom for hours, talking. She had told him everything. About how Dumbledore had told her and she had felt guilty about it and that was why she had been acting so weird around him. About researching Voldemort and the rest of her family in the library. About the picture he had seen fall out of her trunk. About her dream. About her legilimancy.

And Harry had heard everything she was saying about what she was going though and understood it. When he found out about her dream, he felt he had to tell her about the dreams he had last year, how he had gone through the same thing. He meant to tell her only that, but talking to her, talking to someone who understood, had felt so good that he had kept going. He told her about Sirius and the Ministry, the Order of the Phoenix, the meetings he was having with Dumbledore. He had told her everything.

He didn't regret what he had said. He didn't think that Adair would tell anyone, just as he would never tell anyone about her. Well, except for Ron and Hermione. And he had asked her permission for that. She was hesitant as first but he assured her that they could keep a secret, that they had been keeping his secrets for six years now.

He had also assured her that they would understand. He was a little worried about that promise. He knew Hermione would be fine. She would never judge Adair on her background, but Ron? He knew that Ron was good at heart, but it might take him a while to accept Adair. Adair had insisted that they tell them together and he was afraid of an insulting outburst from Ron.

It couldn't be helped though. It was no use trying to keep anything from those two. They would find him out soon enough. They had agreed that they would tell them tonight, when the common room was empty.

Adair skipped along, happily. She had never thought that her talk with Harry would go so well. Not only was he not angry at her, he had understood what she was going through. He didn't hate her at all.

Even better, now she finally understood what was going on with those three. He had told her all about his adventures, the untold stories. She still couldn't believe that he had been in contact with Sirius Black all those years.

Adair felt as if this was the beginning of something new, something great. Harry Potter was the one destined to bring down Voldemort. She knew this now. And what irony it would be; how appropriate, if she was able to help Harry on his way. There could be no one better to help Harry achieve his destiny than the one person who may have even more of a reason to hate the Dark Lord than the Boy-Who-Lived: Voldemort's Granddaughter herself.


End file.
